Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-06-11


post-onlce without postage stamps or without ad
dresses, or with wrong addresses. Such mistakes
are 90 common that various expedients have be.
come necessary to correct them. Among these
are the printing OF the names OF the senders on the
outside, the short postage stamp, and the bulk Of
the work OF the dead-letter ONCE.
Mistakes in drawing law papers are 20 common
that the newest codes make provision for them
Thus. In some cases. where an afddavit has been
sworn TO before q notary or magistrate, and the
afaant has neglected TO afix hts signature the
There is weii-settled principle Of law that man
cannot take advantage OF his own error. II this
were not 50 It would be possible to invalidate al
most any proceeding by errors
Before the new penal code went into operation
many criminals escaped by means of technical
business, were apt to make technical errors, OF
which Criminal lawyers would take advantage.
But mary Of these probable errors were provided
This mistakes that travellers are apt to make In
getting out at the wrong station or passing their
Calling out ,he names Of stations 'n0 p''''00 VI
Mistakes OF hearing are many and yexatious.
| Few persons can pronounce the letters NJ and N
separately SO as TO make 1t certain which ia used.
| This Is recognized among printers, who when the
questioned is raised Will say, IN Tor nuts" Among
gently guarded against by close attention to the
| context, by means Of which many errors Of hear
Ing are detected. Long practice will give stenog
that young photographers make, who write from
sound regardless OF sense are often very ludicrous
Siy ssS
| they mean defendant. They will say Mr. Jones
when they mean Mrs. Jones. The mind works SO
| OF similar appearance or sound are frequently
| USED 1or one another, thoughts follow one
50 that often to
spoken last is uttered FIRST. II thought is upper
most in the mind OF any one it is probable that it
| time and place. Thus what are called
aSsent. minded people are those who are SO
absorbed with one idea that they become OBJ
yexatious may be the result. This state OF Of
4 Of great "a
or science gives rise to many ludicrous results,
and Is largely used for the funny characters OF
OF the skin OF his lady love thus ..Her epidermls
was Of that velvety texture that enveops the
Inc funny lovers Of comedy comprise many
whose scientific bent is constantly brought In
sharp contrast with 'spooning." An analogous
man. who is at once an auctioneer and lover and
throughout the play makes a constantly ludicrous
1u1taposition Of the two Characters all growing
Mistakes OF vision are many. We think we see
many things which we do not see, or which we see
put partially. The stories OF mistaken identity are
as Old as the world. Shakespeare'S Two Dronios
are reproduced every day. The law books are full
| OF cases where men have sworn that strangers
gers were their husbands. AL sorts OF martyrdom
have been suffered by people who have had the
misfortune either to look like bad people or to be
mistaken LOT them. Twins have from time imme-
mortal played pranks with their friends and en-
| joyed their discontinue There was once waiter
at Delmonicos who bore such q strong resem-
Dlance 10 Chauncey Depew that one night when
Chauncey failed to attend at the New England
dinner, where he was well known. wag brought
In the walter, and the members cheered him sew
eral minutes before the joke was discovered. A
man who looks like Jay Gould or Barnum or Dr.
Taimage, or any other wel-known person, finds
| Ing mistakes.
mistakes OF printers are proverbial, but many,
II not most, or them are traceabe to bad copy.
some years ago, when the late Jas. Watson Webb
was editor OF the Courier and Enquirer, he had a
| verbal set-to with Theodore K. Tomlinson then a
politics. The editor had considerably The adyant-
| age OF the lawyer in having his newspaper at
command Tomlinson on one occasion determined
TO give the editor shot, and fixed up speech for
public meeting on the Battery. one paragraph
OF this speech was particularly severe, and the
point q 9s. t was VA that Mr. To%unson insinu
Tomlinson, had not done them one OF Mr.. Tom
my belly to secure bri6e' But in the Herald OF Of
| the next day MIR. TOmlinson was represented as
saying, ~ never crawled on my belly to secure a
went to the Herald Office to blow up the reporter
But his chagr1n and defeat may be imagined
when the fact is recorded that he was confronted
the word "bribe" in such q way that the printer
was quite JUSTIFIED in making It "wife."
Mistakes OF architects and engineers are some
times costly An illustration is seen in the diner
ence between the two big Vanderbilt grain eleva-
tors at the North River depot. One was built
same cost, was built with the end TO the stream
| On pier, so that vessels may come up simultane-
ously on both sides The position OF the first one
Old Commodore Vanderbilt was a shrewd man
when looking at any new.Iashioned thing Once
Ing fresh water On board ship out OF salt water
Part OF the apparatus was donkey engine to
pump the sea water In. The commodore said to
the inventors:
what the ID do you want of that donkey
engine? whenever the ship is in motion all you
from the bow or the ship. There I've 81 saved hail
your ID Old machine" And the Commodore
the first elevated railroad in the city were many
and the various experiments for motors were
costly. One Idea was to run the cars by an end
on the elevated structure and back under the
street. The consequence was that when the chain
broke the ends could only be joined by digging up
this out. Some very valuable stationary engines
were buried under the sidewalk many years. The
over and under side and side, and costly chain
| 1t was. The wire rope was not then available
The Cooper Institute is an illustration OF an
architects mistake for great deal OF money has
been expended in making the foundations what
they ought to have been ut the start.
There nre In fact all sorts OF mistakes In all the
trades and professions, and this recalls vener-
able but appropriate joke which describes word
battle between lawyer and DOCTOR
"1our mistakes are fatal" suid the doctor
"when your clients are found on the scafYold."
Sand yours" said the lawyer, "when your
patients are found in the graveyard"
Tie memory Is largely made up Of the asSocia-
ton OF ideas Most OI what We know lies dormant
in the mind, to be awakened by some idea revived
by association. A very slight arrangement of the
mental faculties produces curious mistakes or as
ISOLATION, so that ideas arise in the wrong place
There Is close analogy between the CONFUSION of
thought that occurs In dreams and insane raw
1ngs. There are lucid intervals In both 1t Is not
unusual for well persons who have In mind par
tcolar person TO mistake others for that person.
Such mistakes are frequent with persons OF dis
ordered mind, who are apt TO mistake almost any
body for some Others who have done them real or
| fancted injury, and whose image appears to be
ever present in the memory, and easily called up
by some slight association OF Ideas.
Mistakes OF forgetIulnesS are apt to become
more frequent as we grow older. All sorts OF ex-
pedients are adopted to provide for It, A man
who had been caught several times without money
through forgetting 10 change bis pOcketboOk when
he changed his clothing adopted the expedient OF
keeping money In each suit Of clOi hing so that
when he did forget he was prepared for It.
TO Learn to Swim.
WHAT BEGINNER SHOULD DO TO MANAGE nINsRIF IN
THE WATER.
From the Chicago Inter. Ocean.
Probably one OF the best WAYS M learnfuo IN